for maria sharapova, a new gold bag for a new season

Maria Sharapova will make her appearance at this year’s Australian Open possibly wearing a version of this dress, but definitely with a gold bag in tow. Designed by Maria, and produced in partnership with Prince, the Sharapova Gold Collection will bring together quality and design rarely seen in athletic bag collections.

“I absolutely love working with Prince and had the best time taking this collection from initial drawings to final product,” said Sharapova from Melbourne. “First, they are supreme quality tennis bags and totes designed specifically to meet the needs of players. Second, they are gold and who doesn’t love gold? It is always in style and these bags look fantastic when they are over the shoulder or in your hand.”

“In my opinion, players should head to the court with equipment that not only delivers in terms of quality and design, but also looks great,” said Sharapova. “This collection accomplishes both and I am excited to unveil the first piece when I take the court next week in Melbourne.”

Prince chimes in: “Maria is the rare combination of someone who pays close attention to the intricacies of performance equipment and also has a trend-setting sense of style and fashion,” said Linda Glassel, VP of Marketing and Brand Image. “[Maria] always has her finger on the pulse of the fashion world. With this collection, she has once again shown her abilities in both areas and it couldn’t be more perfect that we are launching it during an Olympic year, when gold is on everyone’s mind.”

The deets: Made primarily of heavy-duty gold nylon, the outside of the bags also feature accents of black in the strap and quilted black patent leather for the Prince logo. The line of bags comes in a few versions: six-pack, triple, tote, mini tote, and backpack. (If you remember, she used a pink version at the 2007 U.S. Open.)

The Sharapova Gold Collection will be available internationally beginning in March wherever Prince tennis products are sold with suggested retail prices ranging from $50-$120.

Hmmm… we might try to get our hands one of of these…. I can’t say no to gold.